The Lehigh County Coroner's Office responded this afternoon to a late-morning apartment building fire in Emmaus.

Reported at 11:53 a.m., the blaze at 36-38 S. Fifth St. in the borough drew multiple fire departments.

The coroner's office and borough police were not immediately available for comment.

An Emmaus firefighter, sent by borough Fire Chief James Reiss to talk to the media, said the house is uninhabitable and multiple families were displaced. He said it remains unclear where the blaze initially started because it spread so fast.

The cause remains under investigation, the firefighter said.

The fire wasn't completely extinguished until about 3 p.m., he said. Firefighters concerned about flare-ups continued to pour water onto the
roof as of about 4 o'clock.

The American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley responded to assist those displaced, according to the firefighter, who would not give his name. In a news release, the Red Cross confirmed it was assisting two families.

The organization stated it was providing food and clothing to one family of one adult and two children and a second family of two adults received assistance for food, clothing and shoes. The Red Cross will follow up with additional services, if needed, the release stated.

Firefighters had to abandon from their efforts inside the building for fear of collapse, he said. The crews then worked from the exterior.

Neighbors said the structure was a funeral home until the 1960s or '70s. It was converted into apartments, and at least five families lived there, said neighbor Lori Washburn.

Michael and Loretta Boyko, of Macungie, are listed as the
property owners, according to Lehigh County
property records. A woman who answered the phone at Boyko Funeral Home
said Boyko was very upset to hear the news and had no comment at this
time.

Washburn dialed 911 just before noon after she saw, from her porch in the 400 block of Broad Street, black smoke coming through the roof of the South Fifth Street home.

Washburn said she heard an explosion and people yelling. People were also running from the home. Flames were shooting from the roof, neighbors recalled.

"It was horrible," Washburn said. "It was like big piles of smoke all over the neighborhood."

Another neighbor, Paula Wittman, also of Broad Street, said she saw glass on a car from windows that were blown out from the fire.

"It was heartbreaking. It was gut-wrenching," she said.

Staff members Sarah Cassi and Kurt Bresswein contributed to this report.